With liqueur sales rising, an order of monks figures out how to quietly get its share

Brother Laurent, a Carthusian monk mixes the ingredients for the famous Chartreuse liqueur in a factory near the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse in Dauphine, south-eastern France.

Word of mouth is the ultimate form of marketing. Which could be a little difficult if your most knowledgeable staff members have taken a vow of silence. The owners and producers of Chartreuse--a liqueur made from 130 herbs and plants--are Carthusian monks who live an ascetic life dedicated to prayer and contemplation at a monastery called La Grande Chartreuse, nested in the French Alps in Voiron, near Grenoble. Nevertheless, because the income generated by sales of the Chartreuse liqueur helps support La Grande Chartreuse and the order's other monasteries around the world, the business--privately and solely held by the Carthusians--also dedicates...